Tag: black female characters

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what's lit

‘The View’ Co-Host Sunny Hostin Gushes Over Debut Novel

Celebrity host and lawyer Sunny Hostin excitedly announced she will be releasing her debut novel in June.

On last Tuesday’s episode of The View, Sunny announced Summer on the Bluffs surrounds an Afro-Latina lawyer, Esperanza “Perry” Soto, who returns to her godmother Ama’s beach cottage in the exclusive Black beach community of Oak Bluffs with her two godsisters as they vie for the real estate while harboring a secret .

“[Perry] escapes from New York every summer for the beaches of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard where she shares a beautiful seaside home with her two godsisters, Billie and Olivia, and their home is owned by their godmother, Ama. She’s the first Black woman to have a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, but this summer on the bluff is different,” Sunny said on The View. “Because Ama decided to give her house to only one of her goddaughters. Each of the women want the house desperately.”

The book will be released on June 16, 2020 by HarperCollins Publishers.

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book reviews

Book Review: ‘Piecing Me Together’ by Renee Watson

Piecing Me TogetherPiecing Me Together by Renée Watson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Piecing Me Together” by Renee Watson is a relatable story of a Black teen girl so focused on what she wants but doesn’t realize what she has can still get her to where she wants to be.

Jade is a high school junior/multimedia artist who attends a private school in Portland, nowhere near her impoverished neighborhood, so she makes a few bus transfers each way to get the best education. But she doesn’t have any friends at her school until she meets Sam, a white girl, who lives in a neighborhood near her. Now Jade’s mom can get off her back about making friends since she still is close with her childhood friend, Lee Lee, who attends the neighborhood school. Regardless of her socioeconomic status, Jade, gifted in Spanish, wants to go on a field trip to Costa Rica. But students have to be nominated, so when she gets called into the counselor’s office she thinks she’s got a nomination but instead she’s got into a mentoring program for Black teen girls. Jade is not entirely sold on the opportunity but attends the program’s first meeting, only to be stood up by her mentor, Maxine. It turns out Maxine, a Black 20-something professional who graduated from the school, can barely commit to the program with boyfriend drama. Jade picks up on this and takes their relationship with a grain of salt until they become closer the more they spend time together. As she visits museums in Portland, Jade is looking forward to hearing back on the Costa Rica opportunity, but she learns some opportunities won’t be given to her because of who she is but other opportunities will come her way because of that.

This story is a good read with smoothly showing Jade gain her voice when she feels it doesn’t matter because she’s Black, poor, and obese. She sees how not speaking up affects her relationships with one example of Jade and Sam having a temporary falling-out because Jade feels she’s not being heard when she isn’t saying exactly how she feels. It also shows the trauma of a Black girl being in a predominantly white school and how she becomes invisible despite her hard work. Jade sees there are other ways she can succeed, and once she sees that, the law of attraction will lead her to what she really wants.

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‘Queen Sugar’ Shows How a Memoir Could Affect Your Family

Queen Sugar returns Wednesday, June 12 at 9 p.m. / Discovery Press Web

The new trailer for Queen Sugar‘s fourth season made a splash with seeing how the Bordelons handle the activist journalist-turned-author character’s memoir, which begs the question on how much can you reveal comfortably when your family will read your work?

Nova Bordelon, played by Rutina Wesley, has turned her career of black community journalism into a memoir about her family’s rise in the sugarcane industry as they are the only African American owners to create a sustainable business in St. Josephine Parish, Louisiana. Yet, like with many families across cultures, there is deep-rooted tension that never came to the surface until Nova decides to put it to pen in what looks like will be a successful memoir. The success drives a wedge between each family member with her sister Charley, played by Dawn-Lyen Gardner, accusing Nova of the pages showing how much she hates her.

The season starts Wednesday, June 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The critically acclaimed OWN series is based on Natalie Baszile’s 2014 novel of the same name that added Ava DuVernay’s cinematographic vision to upgrade the overall story.